


Promise (Felis AU)

by Amonoff, DameMond



Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms, Bravely Second
Genre: Complete, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-26 14:00:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6242182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amonoff/pseuds/Amonoff, https://archiveofourown.org/users/DameMond/pseuds/DameMond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Janne has another nightmare. One of many that's been plaguing him for a while. It's hard to forget regrets when it's staring you right in your face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Promise (by Amonoff)

Janne stood as far as away from the knights as possible, observing them silently and carefully. The moment felt foreign but Janne remembered everything. Tonight was the night he would show to everyone where his true allegiance lied with; the Empire.

 

Finally, one knight departed alone into the forest. Janne followed him cautiously, waving away other knights who offered to come with him.

 

Janne continued on alone, walking straight into the forest. He walked and walked and walked...and walked.

 

Something was amiss.

 

Janne stopped, looking around to see the trees that were beginning to look identical. Had he gotten lost? But how could he when he only stayed in one direction, never straying once.

 

Just as his worry began to get the better of him, he felt something grab his leg with a vicious tug. Before he knew it, Janne fell on the ground with a scream. Hands began to emerge from the ground, grabbing him and pulling him down into ground. 

 

“Kill me…”

 

As Janne struggled to break free, a person slowly emerged from sea of hands, crawling over him as he rasped, “Janne, please… It hurts…”

 

“Yu…?!”

 

The boy took notice to his name and smiled shakily. “You remember me…?”

 

“Of course, I do.” Janne answered but with a weak and almost frightened tone. “Yu, need to get out of here. It’s too dangerous.”

 

“Trust me, I want to leave but I can’t.” Yu shrunk on his chest. “It’s hurts. It hurts a lot and it’s scary…”

 

“Then let’s get out together.” Janne didn’t think twice about the offer. He stroke Yu’s head, trying to give him some measure of comfort.

 

“I...know how we can get out.”

 

“Yu, please…”

 

“Just listen, okay? Look around you, Janne. Do you see any way out?”

 

Janne looked around himself and all across was darkness; a frightening, unending darkness. They were in an abyss.

 

“There’s no escape-”

 

“There is. I’ll find it and get you there.” Janne tightened his hold on Yu. He gripped the boy hard as he swore to him, “You’re going to be alright, okay? You’re going to be alright…”

 

“I’m...going to be okay?” Yu whimpered. Janne nodded and patted his head and back.

 

“Yeah... I promised you, didn’t I?” Janne heard him sniffle but he could feel Yu smiling.

 

That was right. Yu was going to be okay…

 

Yu was going to be okay.

 

Strangely, Janne suddenly didn’t mind the darkness around them. It was comforting, in a way, to feel that there’s only the two of them in that little world.

 

“Can we stay here longer?” Yu suddenly asked. Janne didn’t see why they couldn’t.

 

“Sure. As long as you’d like.”

 

“Janne?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Promise me that you won’t forget me.”

 

Janne nodded his head. “I would never do that to you.” He promised. 

 

It was a tender, but inevitably fleeting moment, however. After what felt like only a passing minute, Janne woke up into his room. Janne was still in bed, lying on his side to stare at the slightly visible wall, desk, and lamp beyond as his vision slowly returned.

 

Janne looked down, taking care not to awake his charge. In his warm embrace, sleeping blissfully while dreaming whatever it was that brought a smile on his face...was not Yu, Janne forcibly reminded himself.

 

The boy had Yu’s exact face, hair, eyes, touch, and body and the similarities didn’t extend to only his physical appearance. They shared few similar habits, some of the same simple and idealistic mentalities, and an almost mirrored personality except with a few differences. If it weren’t for those small differences, then anyone would easily think that the boy beside him was Yu.

 

But he wasn’t Yu.

 

Everyone believes that Yu was gone but Janne refused to lose hope. Yu was still there, just sleeping and resting peacefully somewhere deep inside the boy, still trapped in that darkness. 

 

No matter what anyone said, Janne firmly believed that as the truth and one day, Yu would be free again; out of that wretched place and beside him with Nikolai and his brother instead just as it should have been. Until then, Janne needed to do everything he could to protect this boy.

 

Yu’s shell, Felis.

 

It was a constant fight for Janne to remember that he wasn’t Yu but it was necessary one. Fighting was the only way he could remind himself of both of Yu and his promise…

 

Janne would never forget Yu. Never.

 

He clutched Felis closer, swearing that same promise again to the soul he was sure was slumbering deep down inside him.

 

Janne was going to save him from that place. He was going to save him!

  
"So...please just wait for me a little longer. Just a little while longer..." he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place in one of my proudest AU's, which I dubbed as the Felis AU. After watching his friends, Tiz, Edea, and Magnolia, and then Agnes herself, die by Anne's hands before failing to stop her escape, Yew is thrown into inconsolable despair.
> 
> With his world now struggling to repair itself and others possibly doomed to the same fate for his weakness, Yew lost most of his will to live and even began starving himself.
> 
> With little choice, Denys gives Yew the option to erase his own memories with a concoction that made by the Empire's lab. Yew readily takes it with little doubt in his mind, and forgets everything; his heritage, his family, his friends, and his identity.
> 
> Denys gives him the name Felis, in hopes that he might have better future.
> 
> However...the story does not end there.


	2. Fake (by DameMond)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janne refused to accept Yew's choice, nor did he accept the person called Felis in front of him. In his mind and heart, he still only saw Yew and was desperate to bring his memories back no matter what.
> 
> He searched tirelessly for a way as he looked after and protected Felis. Eventually, he discovers that the Astrologian Norzen had developed a way for one to 'dive' inside another person's consciousness. Against the warnings of Denys and Nikolai, he goes to Norzen and begs him for his help to recover Yew's lost memories.
> 
> Norzen agrees to do so, but even he is unsure of what Janne will find.
> 
> Janne doesn't care. If Yew is inside somewhere, then it's his responsibility to bring him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -DameMond 
> 
> Phewie, never thought I'd share this, ahah. This is old and back in the day Mono and I wrote each way separately, I wrote this for her specifically after we gushed over an AU where Yew decides to forget. Janne might look a bit soft here in my book, because this was written (again) before the game came out, also this was written quickly. Man, the memories and pain. If Yew lost his memory they'd all be ready for a ride.

He’s gone.

He’s gone.

He won’t be back.

He is gone.

Janne runs away from the truth as fast as he can, but it reaches him and tears him into pieces in such a way he falls to his knees and starts crying into his hands.

He can’t even see where he is after running away… away from Deys, away from Nikolai, away from everyone… even Ye- Felis. 

He had heard the tiny boy call after him as he ran off the chamber Norzen had put them into. Janne had hope... He truly had believed he could awaken Yew’s memories by dwelling into his mind.

Soul connection. Whatever Norzen called it.

He’d dreamed of it: of Yew calling him from a dark abyss he could only reach in dreams when Felis slept in his arms. Janne felt guilty, so guilty…

Janne punches the ground with his fists, unable to see due to his blurry eyes. He remembers…

Yew is forever gone.

The part Janne thought was calling for him, the part that was still Yew inside of Felis… is gone, as well.

Yew is forever gone.

He can’t get him back.

He doesn’t want to remember, but Yew’s voice echoes in his head, fresh and cold… and it stings in Janne’s chest.

The memory loss had reached every part of him now.

There was nothing left, nothing to recover, as Janne had always believed.

And worse…

“I promised… Yew… I promised I’d get you back…“

“JANNE!”

Felis’ voice makes him jump on the spot and he looks up from his hands. His eyes itch, his chest hurts, he can’t breathe, his mind is racing-

“Oh, Janne…”

He’s right behind him, but Janne can’t see him right now.

“… I… I’m so sorry, Janne.”

“…”

“Forgive me…”

“…”

“… Please, say something!”

Felis’ voice cracks and Janne can’t take the familiar tone breaking down on him. Hesitant, the fencer turns around, not caring about his appearance anymore. What he loved the most, his memories with Yew… were gone, after all. Did it matter anymore?

Felis looks as if he’d been crying his heart out as well. Worst is, Janne knows why.

Felis loves him; he knows Felis does, with all his heart. He doesn’t know if it’s still that part of Yew that remains, or if Felis grew fond of him as Janne devoted himself to protect him.

“I… sorry I ran off like that…”

Felis slowly walks up to him, as if he was trying to pet a wild animal, and kneels next to Janne.

Yew’s sad eyes. Janne can’t take it.

He feels the tears run down his cheeks once again and the pain in his chest is too much to handle, and he curls up into a ball.

Felis has Yew’s eyes, Yew’s body, Yew’s voice and habits, same mentality… he even loves him as Yew did.

But he isn’t Yew. His memories are gone and he’s built himself up as a different person.

Janne doesn’t know how much time has passed since he’s laid there, a hand running down his hair in a soothing motion too familiar to him…

Nikolai’s voice sounds in his head again in a different memory as he had told Nikolai his concerns about Felis’ feelings towards him… and his own towards Yew.

He wonders, in Felis’ arms, if he deserves Felis’ warmth after all, so similar to Yew’s…

“Janne?”

The voice is too familiar.

“… Yeah?”

“… Can you… can you love me?”

Janne’s head jerks up and looks at Felis. His eyes –Yew’s eyes- are begging him for something he can’t give him… not without feeling incredibly guilty.

His last words with Yew echo in his head as he stares into those too familiar eyes.

“… I…”

Felis smiles and shakes his head at Janne’s doubt, dismissing him.

“I know… I’m not him, I know I’m not Yew, I know he’s in me…  But I care for you… I’m… I am-“

But it’s too late. Felis’ fake smile breaks and he buries his face in his hands.

“C… can you think I’m him…?”

The question takes Janne off-guard.

“… What?”

But Felis clings to him for dear life and both stumble backwards. Janne doesn’t want to fight back, he can’t…

The embrace is too familiar, and he drinks from it like a lost man in the desert.

“I can’t do that to you, Felis… I’ve hurt you enough.”

“… you haven’t.”

“I have,” Janne retorts. His eyes itch. “I feel I’m using you… You have Yew’s warmth, his heart, the same habits when we used to sleep together… but…”

“… Please, think I'm him…”

“I can’t do that-”

“… Janne… there’s… a part of me that calls to you, I don’t know if it’s Yew or me, I… I don’t know, but it wants you to stay… I know I do… Please… just for a bit, pretend I’m him…”

Janne looks up then, seeing both of them being a mess of tears and dirt from the forest ground. How far are they from Gathelatio…?

He can’t do that to Felis. He can’t do that to Yew.

… Can he?

Felis’ eyes, Yew’s eyes, are begging and sad, a mirror of his own. Janne knows a part of him is screaming to follow Felis’ suggestion… at least for one night.

“... it can’t be that bad…” he mumbles, and Felis clings to him tighter. Janne can’t see his face… maybe it’s better that way.

 

* * *

 

He’s warm. Yew’s warm…

Yew, only Yew.

It’s dark in their room and Janne’s hands get lost on him, remembering where each scar Yew has on his body is. He traces each one with his finger, and pretends he’s just refreshing Yew’s memory as he tells the boy below him their stories.

Yew covers him in kisses and he almost gives in. His tears get brushed off, as he brushes Yew’s…

Yes, Yew.

Only Yew.

When he whispers Yew’s name he’s sure he hears something break inside the boy he’s holding as both cry in silence, finding comfort and warmth in each other…

Fake comfort…

But Felis’ warmth is real, he really loves him and he’s giving his everything to him. 

Janne feels terrible: he feels like a monster, a liar, a traitor all over again…

But he can’t let go of that warmth. He clings to it, the remains of what he’s lost and wants back under any cost.

Janne is so tired when he feels Fel- Yew snuggle up to him when they try to sleep. Yew, strangely enough, looks at ease…

Janne lets his tears fall down again. It’s like he’s opened a box that’s always been closed…

He thinks to himself how much he wants to be loved… and he isn’t allowed to do so.

His parents got taken from him.

Yew got taken from him.

His friendships were nothing but lies in the Orthodoxy and the Al-Khampis Academy.

They were all used and broken in the Empire…

Gods, what did he do wrong?

…

 

* * *

 

“… Janne.”

“Jaaaanne.”

His eyes snap open.

It’s dark all around him, and Felis is looking at him from above. Janne stands up, looking around him… it’s like when he tried to recover Yew from the depths of Felis’ mind.

“… Felis? Where are we?”

“I’m not Felis.”

Janne snaps back to look at him… That smile, that look… It does fit Yew, even if Felis had his cheerful behaviour as well.

“Yew…? Yew!”

Janne reaches for Yew as he does the same and he traps the younger boy in his arms, the tinier fencer laughing at Janne spins him around, almost breaking down to tears again.

“I thought I’d lost you-!“

“Janne!” Yew’s laugh makes Janne smile without any other effort. “Put me doooown!”

And Janne does so, but he refuses to let go.

“How are you here? I thought you were gone for real-”

“I am part of you.”

“… What?”

“I am the memory you hold of Yew.”

It hits Janne like a punch.

“So… you… are an illusion.”

The boy shakes his head.

“I am Yew.”

“… Yew’s gone.”

Yew cups Janne’s cheek in his hand. Warmth. Without thinking, Janne holds Yew’s hand with his own, keeping it pressed against his cheek.

“I am never gone.”

“I can’t get you back… Your memories are lost…”

Yew smiles sadly. Janne can’t take that smile: it breaks him in many ways, but he swallows and endures.

“Janne, none is truly gone as long as we remember them.”

The words hit him like a punch once more. He doesn’t want to let go, he doesn’t want Yew to become only a memory…

“No- Yew, please-“

“Janne, listen… I live in Felis. He is me, in many ways. A part of me is there even if my memories are gone.”

“But-“

“Janne, he cares for you… as much as I do.” Janne leans into Yew’s hand, feeling his eyes sting once again. “That part still lives from the very beginning… Don’t make him sad, give him a chance.”

Yew’s voice cracks.

“He loves you as much as I do… He wants your attention as much as you want mine.” Janne can’t help but chuckle at that, remembering when he opened his heart to Yew back in the day, a bit afraid Yew would reject him for needing him as much as he did… but Yew had accepted him.

Just like Felis was doing.

“Please,” Yew says, “give him one chance. Give me that chance again. Give us one chance to start over.”

Before Janne can reply, everything around him shuts down in darkness. In impulse, he jumps and pulls what he feels to be Yew into his arms and he holds to him like a lifeline.

And then he opens his eyes, feeling the Sun mercilessly attacking his eyes with its bright rays.

Janne blinks several times, feeling his body sore and tired, let alone his poor eyes.

There’s someone in his arms.

Felis.

The smaller boy is clinging to him too, shaking in his dreams as Yew used to do…

And Janne does the same thing he used to do with him.

He rests his lips on Felis’ forehead and runs his hand up and down Felis’ back, feeling his breathing slowly evening down and his frown disappearing.

His skin is as soft as Yew’s.

“…”

Maybe… maybe he could.

Was that a dream? A remnant of Yew? Was that his brain conjuring something up so he felt less guilty? Janne isn’t sure anymore. He can’t forget about Yew no matter what he does, but he doesn’t want to keep hurting Felis…

The tinier fencer has now a smile on his face and he lets out a sigh with Janne’s name.

… Felis will never be Yew as long as his memories are gone.

But Janne clings to him like a lifeline.

Because he can’t let Yew’s warmth go, even if it kills him.

And maybe, maybe one day... he will think of Yew's warmth as Felis' warmth.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As for what happens from here....well, that's up to Janne and Felis, isn't it?


End file.
